19 January 2007 :
The European Union parliament called on member states to reconsider their relations with Libya unless it releases six foreign medics - five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor - sentenced to death. MEPs adopted 567 to one a resolution also calling on the EU Commission to closely supervise the case. EU member states and the Commission should "consider, in case the absence of a positive resolution of the case, a revision of the common policy of engagement with Libya in all relevant fields as the Union would deem appropriate," the resolution said.The measure was part of boosted efforts to find a positive solution to the case after Bulgaria joined the EU on 1 January this year, calling on the EU to intervene.
EU aid to Libya is limited but many European countries have close commercial relations with the oil-rich country.